


beastfriend

by AslansCompass



Series: Friends Offline [6]
Category: Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Modern AU, covid au, just general politician bashing, mmorpg au, no rp were named, politician bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26941570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AslansCompass/pseuds/AslansCompass
Summary: Mandy's husband Jake accidently meets up with Riayn while playing Heralds of Valdemar.
Series: Friends Offline [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870084
Kudos: 5





	beastfriend

Jadrek soared over the forest, watching the treetops sway like waves. A hundred shades of green rippled and flowed in the breeze. "Man, these graphics just keep getting better and better," he remarked. "And I've never been able to control from this far away before either." 

As a beastfriend, Jadrek could send his mind into the body of small animals nearby and control them. At high enough levels, he could swap between animal bodies without returning to his body in between. The closer the animal was to his body, the stronger his control was. Right now, though, his character was high enough to control beasts almost a full region away.

Something moved in the undergrowth. He swooped down, activating the switch function. Instead, sharp teeth snapped shut inches from his tail. Jadrek shot up into the air, gasping for breath. Had he hit the wrong button? 

No. He landed on a high branch and toggled the identify function. 

> kyree: Warrl

The name sounds familiar. Kyrees are bonded creatures, so if he looked for other players.....

> ranger: Tarma

No one else was in range. He switched on voice chat. "Hey, Tarma, good to see you." 

"Jadrek?" She looked around. :"Where are you?"

"In the tree. I'm a hawk." 

"Oh. Hang on, I'll turn Warrl to passive mode." She sheathed her knife and unstring her bow. 

"Been a while, hasn't isn't? Too bad about RenFest. I was really looking forward to it."

"Yeah. I tried the parade, but that was almost worse. I mean, the food was good--I got my cider float and caramel apple and all that, but, man it was sad. Like a ghost town, almost." Tarma frowned. "They have the location renewed for next year, at least." 

"I'll mark it on my calendar. How's the school year going?"

* * *

"....and yesterday, Johnny Grahme wrote 'snake' instead of 'snack' when he was writing about his favorite things. Said that Oreos were his favorite snake."

Jadrek snorted. "Kids are hilarious!"

"I was trying so hard not to laugh! I mean, they're annoying sometimes, but at the end of the day, it's so worth it." Tarma sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if the school ends has to shut down. So far, so good. But what about you? How're you doing?"

"Had to miss a few therapy appointments. I mean, I'm all for virtual appointments, but they don't work on muscle strains and sore joints." He winced. 

Tarma winced in sympathy. "Sorry to hear that." 

"Don't know what I'd do without Mandy. Can't imagine having to do this all by myself."

"Uhhh, can we just.... not?" Tarma asked. "I'm still mad at her."

"You still haven't talked?" 

"I don't know if she's even logged on this month. At least not at the same time as me." 

"What exactly happened? Mandy just told me you two had a fight."

"I was talking about our district's fall plans and she said it wasn't that different. Cause we , and I quote 'still have all our resources and equipment.'" 

"She said what?"

"Yeah. I've told her a dozen times, rural schools are a completely different zoo. Low population density, snow days in October, sub shortage...."

Jadrek waved her down. "I grew up in Iowa, I know what you're talking about." 

"She also implied our governor was a moron for not shutting everything down."

"To be fair, she also thinks everyone in federal politics is a moron." 

"True. I'd go so far as to say politicians in general."

"My brother's a county secretary and he's alright."

"Fine," Tarma amended. "Politicians, except your brother, are idiots. Happy now?"

Jadrek pretended to consider the matter. "I can live with that." 

**Author's Note:**

> Jake (Jadrek), Mandy's husband, has some disease that causes joint pain, maybe early-onset arthritis or Lyme's disease. I'm not sure which yet.


End file.
